


Safehouse

by neverthelessthesun



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Bruce Feels, Cute, Domestic Avengers, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Science Bros, Self Confidence Issues, Tony Being Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5147222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverthelessthesun/pseuds/neverthelessthesun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce settles into life at Avengers Tower. And, maybe, something just a little more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safehouse

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking out my Science Bros fic! I admit, looking over this it feels very formulaic and dull, but I'm posting it because if I don't I'll never have proof that I'm getting better at writing. So, bear with me through this exercise in humility. And, I hope you enjoy this more than I currently am.

Bruce Banner does not trust easily. This was common knowledge—or at least, common assumption. The SHIELD agents that weren’t too scared to talk to him were still respectful of his space, and so none of the water cooler gossipers had any verified facts about him. 

The point to this is that everyone was quite surprised when Director Fury assigned a protective detail to Doctor Banner, and then sent them off to Stark Avengers Tower. Apparently the Hulk was bedding down in the middle of New York City. A few junior agents made noise about public safety, but Agents Coulson, Hill, and Sitwell shut down the discontent with a few well-placed mentions about anger management courses becoming a requirement for all SHIELD members. No one had a hope of beating Doctor Banner’s record for holding his temper, and everyone knew it. 

But really? The guy literally turns into a giant beast, and he thought living with Tony Stark would be easy on his nerves? The water cooler gossipers shook their heads.

.o0o.

In reality, Bruce had to be talked into living with the Avenger’s resident billionaire. And talked back into it the following day, when he’d changed his mind.

His main reasons for not wanting to live with Tony had very little to do with Tony himself—they kept fairly similar schedules, what with all the lab time the two of them logged. Insomnia is the superhero’s constant companion. And, frankly, the loud and offensive remarks Tony used like they were comments on the weather didn’t rag on him. He had long-since hardened his back to criticism coming from anywhere but himself. No, Bruce’s problem with the tower was its location.

“This isn’t House Hunters, Green Bean. I don’t have another Hulk-proof personal apartment in Death Valley.”

Pepper was ignoring them religiously, except to intervene when she thought Tony was being too rude. This was very impressive, considering they were seated on either side of her at a low table which offered a variety of Bruce’s favorite indian dishes. Her StarkPhone was glued to her hand, and her bluetooth was flashing softly in her ear.

“I know,” Bruce murmured around a mouthful of kheema pao. “And I know that Fury wants me to be more accessible, especially in the aftermath of the invasion, but ‘accessible’ doesn’t mean ‘risking millions of lives by staying in a skyscraper in New York’ either.”

Tony made an unflattering noise that suggested what he thought about Fury. Pepper didn’t look up from her phone, but one thin eyebrow arched warningly. He slouched a little further into his cushion. (how he was even able to slouch that much on what was essentially the floor, Bruce would never know.) “Do the words ‘Hulk-proof’ mean nothing to you? Vegetable Michelin Man can’t leave the floor, let alone the building.”

“Tony—”

“No, my turn. You agreed yesterday to at least give it a shot. You don’t have somewhere else to go this side of the atlantic, and we need you around. You’re staying at the tower.” 

“You don’t get to just tell me what to do, Stark—”

“Tony.”

“—I don’t work for you.”

“We can change that.”

“I don’t want to!”

Tony gave him that look that said, “I’m smarter than you, but if not, I’m definitely richer” and Bruce resisted the urge to put his head in his mutton. 

“Listen, Bruce. I’m not trying to trick you. I want you to come and live with me in the tower, and I want to give you a lab and food and movie nights on Thursdays and all the other stuff that comes with having a place to crash. It doesn’t have to be permanent. I just….” He glanced at Pepper, as if looking for encouragement. 

“I want to make sure we’re all okay. With the team thing. And, Katniss and Jason Bourne’s sister have rooms at SHIELD, Thor’s hanging with his lady, and Cap’s got…his own place, I think. Actually I didn’t ask. Pepper, did I invite Captain Inflated Ego to stay at the tower?”

“Four times.” She tapped her bluetooth. “He said yes so you’d stop asking, but he’s living in Brooklyn most of the time.”

Bruce grumbled and scooped himself some more curry. “Well, if Steve said yes…”

Tony pumped the air and Pepper did an aborted eye-roll. “C’mon. I want you to pick out the couch for your entryway.”

“My entryway is big enough for a couch?”

.o0o.

In the end, all the Avengers and their various significant others started living at the Avengers Tower. Tony steepled his fingers and laughed like a villain when Coulson showed up with a moving van, as if this was his plan all along. “Agent Agent! So glad you could make it. Mandatory movie nights are Thursday from six to eleven. No excuses except SHIELD medical!”

Coulson just smiled wanly and pushed past him to take the elevator to Clint’s floor. 

Natasha abandoned her floor immediately after moving in, and now she, Clint and Coulson shared Clint’s floor. Tony, all too happy to be hosting the world’s most deadly threesome, renovated her old floor into a sort of common space, complete with bowling alley and super-kitchen. The gym and cinema were also on this floor, and more often than not, someone was around to chat or spar or bake cookies.

There were 100 floors in Avengers Tower, including the roof greenhouse-slash-garden. Bruce’s floor was fifth from the top, under Thor’s, Steve’s, Clint’s, and the common floor. Below him were two floors that Tony claimed, then five extra living space floors (in case they found more superheroes to adopt) and then fifty floors of Stark Industries. The Party Deck stuck out between the Avengers and SI, and was used by both of them every once in a while. 

All this was very foreign to Bruce, even a year after moving in. JARVIS mostly left him to his own devices unless he asked a question directly to the AI, and his floor was full of little comforting mementos from throughout his travels. But still, he felt adrift in the giant city, with the giant personal space, and the giant group of friends he found himself suddenly having. And the team were friends, even Natasha, who had more reason to shoot him in the face than most people she actually did kill. It was unnerving. 

His lab had its own set of equipment, and anything he needed would spontaneously appear within forty-eight hours, whether he asked for it or not. He had some strong words with JARVIS about ordering particle accelerators on a whim, and though the AI’s voice was polite, the scientific stuff kept coming. Bruce was secretly amazed and grateful. 

His floor had come with the lab, and his own meditation room, both ready for personalization. He spent more time in those two rooms than he had spent in one place since he was a child. Even his bedroom was less used than the soft, low chaise in the meditation room. 

His kitchen stayed stocked and the floor stayed clean, though Bruce only met the staff once when he moved in. It was impressive that they were so quiet—they never once disturbed him. He guessed that Natasha and Clint could catch them at it, but everyone else seemed to have the same experience as he. 

Steve had been living in Brooklyn until the Hydra fiasco, and then he spent two months tracking down his long-lost childhood friend. When he returned, Winter Soldier in tow, the only place that seemed safe to rehabilitate him was Avengers Tower. Tony was overjoyed to have the team all in one place, sometimes minus Thor. 

Bucky didn’t join the Avengers, and he didn’t work for SHIELD, but he must have had a job, because Steve was always chatting proudly about how good he was at…whatever he did. Bruce never quite figured it out. Something with animals, he thought. 

The SHIELD agents were surprisingly social, with Coulson around to kick their butts. Natasha often missed team meetings and debriefs, but she was nearly always around on Thursday nights for a movie. She and Clint spent most of the night throwing popcorn in each other’s hair and Thor’s open, snoring mouth. 

Coulson made a point to sit down and talk to every member of the team privately at least once a month, and usually once a week. He was a great listener, Bruce found, and he looked forward to the quiet afternoons over tea, discussing everything from the team to India to his favorite color. (“Purple? Really, Brucie?” Tony had butted in.)

Clint was the main instigator of what he called “Field Trips”, which could be anything from a school visit to playing mini golf. All in all, everyone benefitted from these trips, and no one more than Bruce. His fans took him by surprise, and continued to raise his self-esteem even now. 

.o0o.

Tony was the biggest difference for Bruce, though. He wasn’t expecting to become so close to him, considering the man’s name used to be on the building and his time was exclusively reserved for things Pepper made him go to and his lab. But somehow, a self-conscious doctor with anger issues made it onto Tony Stark’s “interesting” list, and so they spent quite a bit of time together. 

Most of this was in one of their labs, but the first time Tony brought him a cat with a broken leg and told him, “Fix her,” they were the best of friends. Even Pepper gave them their space, which was weird for Bruce until Tony mentioned offhand that she and Happy Hogan were an item. Bruce silently filed away this information and ignored the fluttering in his stomach.

Tony took him to Manhattan for dinner, and to Chicago to watch a movie on the Navy Pier, and to his summer house in Malibu. They talked about everything, and Tony actually made an effort to let Bruce talk instead of just listen to Tony. Bruce showed him how to make the best chicken soup on earth, and the best hiding spots from Clint’s Nerf arrows, and quotes from his favorite books. Slowly, so slowly and softly that neither of them noticed it, they were becoming the most important person in each other’s lives. 

One night, perhaps eighteen months after the alien invasion, Bruce had crashed on the ratty couch in Tony’s lab and Dummy was wheeling around after You, who was leaking some sort of oil, and Tony was humming under his breath and realizing he didn’t miss playing AC/DC at the top of his volume threshold. Elbows-deep in a project for the Mark IX, giving the repulsors longer range, he happened to glance over to the couch and see Bruce’s face scrunched up in what Tony called his nightmare face. Three seconds later he was next to the couch, pushing a palm to Bruce’s shirt. 

“Hey, wake up, Brucie,” he murmured. “C’mon.” Bruce shivered in his sleep. Usually he woke up faster than this. He would sit up sharp and smile abashedly, shrugging off Tony’s “Are you okay? You wanna talk?” But now, the dream clung to him.

He tried again to wake him. “Bruce,” he said. “Bruce. Bruce!”

The last call brought the dark-haired scientist out of his sleep. He yelped and tried to toss Tony away from him. the genius was ready for this, though, and quickly moved out of striking distance. “Hey, there, Jolly Green,” he smirked. “Back with us?”

Bruce’s pupils were blown wide with adrenaline, his hands shaking and white. “You’re okay,” he breathed. 

Tony raised an eyebrow that Pepper would have been proud of. “Yes? Arc Reactor still thrumming.” He tapped the blue sphere twice through his shirt.

The Doctor was still staring wide-eyed. “Tony,” he said urgently. Then he was standing shakily and pushing into his space, up close, he was—

“Mmph!” Tony let out in shock as Bruce’s lips pressed hard and dry against his. 

A second later the pressure was gone. Bruce was across the room, counting to ten under his breath and still white as a sheet. Tony let him finish, then walked slowly to him. 

“Wanna tell me what that was, Big guy?”

Bruce winced. “I’m sorry, Tony. I’ll leave, I’ll—”

“Woah, slow down there, buddy. No leaving until we discuss exactly what happened.”

Bruce sighed and centered himself. “It’s just a projection of my psyche. I’m surrounded by allies, in a place I find comforting, and it’s constant. The last time that happened was because of…Betty, and she and I were going to get married. I’m subconsciously projecting romantic feelings onto you, because you’re my best frie—the one I spend the most time with.”

Tony gave him a considering look. “Well, so long as it’s romantic feelings,” He drawled casually, and looped an arm around Bruce’s waist. “I didn’t want you making out with me just because I’m gorgeous. Although I understand, it’s hard to keep it to yourself, everyone struggles with it. I’m a danger to the populous. But I don’t want to start anything unless it means something, you understand—”

“Tony, what are you doing?”

“Well, I’m trying to kiss you again, What does it—mmph!”

This kiss lasted several seconds longer, and was followed by another, and a few more. Bruce’s hands slid up Tony’s arms, smoothing over the oil and sweat that coated everything in the lab. It was soft and sweet, and so perfect Tony thought he would cry.

When they finally parted, Bruce was taking his pulse, and his pupils were blown wide again. “Y’know, everyone thinks we’re dating,” Tony mentioned offhandedly.

“Jesus, Tony. Now is not the time to spring that on me. I’ll go green.”

“Clint started a betting pool for when we’d get engaged. After Prop 8 passed, everyone and their brother has been asking for the wedding date.”

Bruce frowned at him. “I hope you didn’t tell them we eloped. You didn’t did you? Pepper must have forgotten to tell me if you did.”

“Pepper is the reason you think I didn’t tell the press we’re married? I’m hurt, shocked, broken, you don’t trust me—”

Bruce cut him off with another kiss. Yeah, they could get used to this.


End file.
